


wide awake before I found you

by thatfangirlingfreak



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, I just loved the idea of sleepy Jughead stumbling into Pop's, Jughead has a bit of anxiety, blame my 12 am self, it's not perfect by any means but whatever lol, this is rlly short I'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-18 21:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10625385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatfangirlingfreak/pseuds/thatfangirlingfreak
Summary: In the darkness of his reality, Betty Cooper was an absolute dream to him. A dream that could die at any moment, fade from his life like it was never there. If he lost her, he would lose himself.Jughead has a bad dream, and Betty helps him wake up.





	

Betty sat alone in the booth, tapping her nails against a cup of coffee Pop Tate had just served to her. She never came here this early, certainly not on a Saturday.

If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have even considered such an idea.

Jughead called her a good ten to twenty minutes ago, asking her to buy him a coffee and grab them a booth at Pop's without explaining why.

Betty had agreed simply out of curiosity. And she wanted to see her boyfriend, of course. And the coffee was a nice bonus.

Just as she began to worry that Jughead's coffee would go cold, in came her man. The man of the hour. A very early hour, to be precise.

However, he definitely did not look like her man.

Jughead's beanie was not on his head for once, revealing his messy bedhead curls. There were dark bags hanging below his pretty blue eyes, and his skin seemed slightly paler. Overall, he looked tired and drained.

"Jug?" She inquired, concerned.

"Hey, Betts. Sorry for waking you so early," He muttered, rubbing one eye lazily. The boy yawned before taking a seat on the other side of the booth.

"It's fine. Are you okay?"

He picked up his coffee and took a loud slurp of it. "Me? Perfectly fine. What about you, babe?"

She stared at him in confusion. "Um...I'm a little sleepy I guess. What's up with you?"

"Sorry," He grimaced. "I wish I didn't wake you."

"It's okay, honest," She smiled. "Do you want to get some breakfast while we're here?"

Jughead looked at her with a distant expression, and his voice was even further away. "Mm, sure."

"Do you want me to double our order of bacon? You'll probably steal majority of it, but still," She joked, trying to make him give her that special smile he only showed her.

"Yeah, that's fine." Usually he'd be more excited about food, and he'd show her more affection than this. Something was definitely wrong with him.

"Juggie, you're not acting like yourself. Can you just tell me what's going on?" One of her hands reached across the table to grab his, and it made him crack. She knew all of his weaknesses like the back of her hand. And probably his hand, too.

He sighed heavily. "You know the plant in _A Raisin in the Sun_?" She nodded. "Okay, so it symbolizes dying dreams, right? Lena harbors it because it is the closest she can get to her dream, and-"

"Jughead. Less English class, more...English."

"Okay, I'll keep it simple," He said.

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand gently in silent thanks, before nodding for him to continue.

"...So you know how the lovers in _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ are all trapped inside this chaotic dream state-"

"Jug!" She exclaimed, exasperated. "That is not what I meant. As much as I love your literary ramblings, I love when you get straight to the point even more."

"I promise I was getting there, Betty! Look, they're all in this opposite green world and it's basically a hellish dream. They don't escape it until they wake up and-"

"Wait, Jughead...are you trying to tell me you had a nightmare?"

He blushed, and Betty tried to hide her grin. "Maybe."

"Did you call me because you just woke up and you were scared?" She teased, and brushed a thumb over his knuckles.

"No."

She shot him a look.

"Fine," He groaned. "Yes."

She grinned widely, not bothering to hide it this time. "Sweet victory. What'd you dream about, babe?"

"I'd rather not discuss it," He shrugged. His eyes refused to meet hers, and Betty frowned.

"C'mon, you know you can tell me," She said insistently.

"Can we please drop it, Betty? It's not that important, I hardly even remember it anymo-"

"I won't kiss you for a week. And we won't see that movie on Friday, either."

"You're the one who wanted to see Beauty and the Beast on Friday!"

"So? I know how much you love to spend time with me, especially in the cinema."

He rolled his eyes. "I hate that you know so much about me."

"I love it," She giggled. "Now, tell me everything. Dream analysis time."

He sighed again, and took a sip of coffee. "It was about you, Betty."

"Me?"

"I was walking on the banks of Sweetwater, when I noticed a body. I looked closer and it was you. You died, and not Jason."

"Oh, Juggie..."

"Then people started to frame me for your murder. It was bad, but then the dream shifted and I was strapped to some chair or something and one by one people I know would enter the same white room I was in. Your mom, Chuck, Archie, my dad...everyone."

He shut his eyes tightly, and wished that he couldn't remember the next part of the dream.

"They would come in alone, and say something to me. Usually about how I didn't deserve you or wasn't good enough, or whatever. Then, the worst part would happen."

She tightened her grip on his hands.

"I had to watch them hurt you as punishment. I couldn't do anything and you were practically dying before my eyes. It was like a traumatic horror movie, and every time you got hurt I felt pain and rage coursing through my entire body. When I woke up, I couldn't breathe. I thought it was real, so I panicked and called you to make sure..."

"Oh my god, Jughead...I'm so sorry." Betty frowned as she wished she could say something more comforting to him.

"It's alright, it's just a bad dream."

"When you called, you didn't sound off. I mean, maybe I just didn't pick up on it or something."

"I composed myself a bit beforehand through those breathing techniques you taught me." A while back, after Jughead had a panic attack over his dad, Betty helped find some quick techniques for him to use in case of emergencies. "And once I heard you say hello, I felt instant relief."

"Well, I'm glad I helped a bit. Still though, I feel so terrible that I was the subject of your awful dream."

"Betty, don't worry about it. I'm fine, you're fine. We're fine. This is reality, strangely enough."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"Because having you as my girlfriend is an absolute dream."

She practically melted like the butter Jughead always slathers onto his pancakes.

"You're cute. Come on my side of the booth, please," She asked sweetly, patting the spot beside her.

Jughead whined about moving, but did it anyway to please his girl. He barely got in the booth before she kissed him hard, and tangled her hands in his already fucked up hair.

"Damn," He exhaled when they broke away. "Am I still asleep?"

"Shut up," She laughed. "You're so adorable."

"Okay, now I know I'm dreaming," He smirked, sliding an arm around her.

They sat in comfortable silence, and simply stared at each other for a moment before Betty spoke.

"This whole early breakfast thing is really nice. Maybe you should have nightmares more often, Jug."

"No way. I can't watch you get hurt or die again," He shuddered. "That is officially my biggest fear."

"My death? Same here," She joked.

"No, losing or hurting you. In general," He clarified.

She kissed him again, and held onto him tightly.

"You're not gonna lose me, Juggie. I promise."

"But what if I do, Betts? What if you wake up and realize you don't want me anymore? Like...like my m-" His eyes squeezed shut as if he was in pain, and Betty knew what he was trying to say. What if she didn't want him like his mom?

It was a ridiculous notion, but she understood.

"I'm not going to abandon you, Jughead. Okay? I care about you so much, and I would never forgive myself if I lost you. You are _never_ going to lose me," She said earnestly.

"Okay. I'm sorry," He whispered.

"It's okay, I understand. I just want you to trust me, Jug. You have nothing to fear."

"Okay, I trust you," He smiled.

"Good," She replied and kissed him. "No more nightmares."

"I can't make any promises, but maybe another kiss and a large stack of pancakes will do the trick."

"Yeah, in your wildest dreams, Juggie," She smirked as he began to whine.

She couldn't imagine a better way to spend her Saturday morning than with her favorite boy sat next to her, and the sunrise beginning to paint across the dark skies of Riverdale.

If this really was a dream, neither Betty nor Jughead ever wanted to wake up from it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so lame and cheesy lmao but I hope you enjoyed this lil blurb regardless!!
> 
> social stuff:  
> tumblr: thatfangirlingfreak  
> twitter: @celesticalum


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